The founders of a specialist price comparison website based in south Wales have secured £500,000 of seed-stage investment and are now ready to disrupt the UK car leasing market.

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Moneyshake.com helps people find the best lease deals quickly by comparing prices from the UK’s leading providers.

The £500,000 equity investment has been provided by the Development Bank of Wales and serial entrepreneur Tim Scholes, a private investor and experienced strategy professional.

Car leasing continues to rise in popularity as people desire new cars more frequently and leasing is seen as the future of car ownership. Typical leases range between 18 and 36 months. Vehicles are handed back to the leasing providers at the end of a contract.

[/aoa]Research from the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA) reveals there are more than 5 million leased cars on the road in the UK. Last year, the consumer car market saw the highest level of growth in the leasing sector at 14%.

The company is currently a team of four employees and is now looking to expand significantly during the next 12 months creating a range of senior technology, marketing and management jobs in Wales.

Eben Lovatt, CEO of Moneyshake

Eben Lovatt, CEO of Moneyshake, said:

“As more people turn to leasing rather than buying a new car our business can only grow. We had a fantastic response from the investment community when we did our funding round.”

“We decided the best institutional investor partner for us would be the Development Bank of Wales. We fit into their existing portfolio well and we have a positive chemistry with their team. South Wales is a great location for us and has some fantastic resource that we can utilise.

“In addition, with Tim backing us, we have a highly experienced strategy professional and visionary entrepreneur in the team. As a group, we’re confident we have the right team to grow into a successful digital brand right here in Cwmbran.

“85 per cent of adults in the UK have used a price comparison site and consumers are familiar with them. Our focus on the car leasing sector is based upon our own frustrations in seeking a good deal on lease vehicles. Moneyshake opens up the widest choice of options so that consumers can easily find the right deal for them.”

“Our plan is to grow the Moneyshake brand to become synonymous with car leasing. We’ve got a fantastic brand, a brilliant website, great people and now we’ve got the investment we needed to take it all to the next level.”

David Blake, of the Development Bank of Wales, added:

“Moneyshake has real potential to be a positive disruptive player not just in the price comparison sector but the wider FinTech market. They have a dynamic vision with real growth potential and ambitions to increase their workforce here in Wales. We’re excited to be working with the management team on their future plans,”